Federal prosecutor leaves door open to charging Trump in Capitol riots

A federal prosecutor investigating the riots that engulfed the Capitol this week said he would not close the door to investigating and charging President Trump for his comments to the crowd of protesters shortly before they stormed the halls of Congress on Wednesday.

Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., repeatedly told reporters on Thursday that his office would be investigating and potentially charging “all actors” involved in Wednesday’s riot.

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record,” Sherwin said when specifically pressed about Trump’s speech at a rally for his supporters that day. “I’m going to stand by my earlier statement, we’re looking at all actors here, and anyone that had a role and the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they’re going to be charged.”

“We’re trying to deal with the closest alligators to the boat right now,” he said. “Those are the people who obviously breached the Capitol, created violence and mayhem there and then exited. But yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building.”

Trump whipped up his supporters on Wednesday with more baseless claims of election fraud, urging them to “fight” and march on the Capitol in protest of Congress certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

A White House spokesman did not immediately respond when asked for comment on Sherwin’s remarks.

Sherwin said Thursday that his office had so far brought 55 cases since the riot breached the Capitol and left four people dead Wednesday.

The protest came after two months of Trump’s false claims that the election had been stolen from him through widespread voter fraud across numerous battleground states won by Biden.

Sherwin said Thursday that his office is leaving all options on the table in terms of who to bring charges against and whether to charge for serious felonies like sedition and insurrection.

“We will bring the most maximum charges we can based on the conduct,” he said.